


Degrassi: Voyager

by HeatherSinclair



Series: Degrassi: Voyager [1]
Category: Degrassi, Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi the Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Canada, Degrassi References, F/F, F/M, Family Drama, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Humor, M/M, Multi, No Sex, Other, Polyamory, Star Trek References, Twincest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 6,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25799086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeatherSinclair/pseuds/HeatherSinclair
Summary: We had Degrassi and Degrassi The Next Generation. We had Star Trek and we had Star Trek the Next Generation. Now it's time for the 3rd generation of Degrassi. It's time for Degrassi: Voyager!It’s 2020. Emma and Spinner conceived a child after their accidental drunk wedding in a Niagara Falls casino back in 2010. They didn’t use protection back in 2010 because Spinner assumed he wasn’t super fertile due to losing his left testicle to cancer in Season 7 of TNG. Unfortunately, Emma comes from a VERY UNBELIEVABLY FERTILE line of women -- after all, Spike got pregnant in 1987 at 14 years old after having sex ONLY ONCE and then got pregnant with Emma’s brother Jack in 2002 WHILE ON BIRTH CONTROL, so Emma really should’ve been more careful. As a result, Emma and Spinner obviously divorced back in 2010 after the Degrassi Takes Manhattan season finale, but then Emma found out she was pregnant. Now she and Spinner must co-parent their child as they get ready to enter DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH!Just like in Star Trek Voyager the ship gets lost far away from the alpha quadrant, in Degarssi Voyager: Emma, Spinner, and their son get stuck in Wisconsin when the US closes its border to Canada for the coronavirus.
Relationships: Christine "Spike" Nelson/Archibald "Snake" Simpson, Declan Coyne/Fiona Coyne, Gavin "Spinner" Mason/Emma Nelson, Holly J. Sinclair/Gavin "Spinner" Mason, Jay Hogart/Manuela "Manny" Santos, Joey Jeremiah/Caitlin Ryan, Lucy Fernandez/Derek "Wheels" Wheeler, Sean Cameron/Emma Nelson
Series: Degrassi: Voyager [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1871713
Kudos: 4
Collections: Degrassi The Newest Generation





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will be the series description! Episodes will be added to the series as we go!

DEGRASSI VOYAGER OUTLINE:

Characters- [ADULTS]

Emma: She’s 30ish, divorced from Spinner, co-parenting their son Riker that they accidentally conceived in Niagara Falls back in 2010. Emma became an education professional after graduating from Toronto University (after transferring from Smithdale in like 2010) and helped create the additional Degrassi schools. Now that she's trapped in Milwaukee with Spinner and Riker, she's going to start teaching social studies at Degrassi Milwaukee in the meantime.  
Manny & Jay: They’re married and they have a kid. He's too young to go to Degrassi yet so he'll be introduced in a later season.  
Sean: He and Emma have been reconnecting since he’s been back from the Canadian military. Now they have to connect over Zoom because there’s a pandemic going on.  
Spinner: He and Emma have to co-parent which makes things awkward, but Spinner’s a good dude. He and Emma are stuck in Wisconsin together with Riker because the border got closed.  
Jimmy: Riker’s uncle on his dad’s side, he’s like a brother to Spinner  
Jane & Holly J: They’ve been in a relationship for a while but are both polyamrous and want to add Spinner into their relationship. Jane has a step-kid. She briefly married a rockstar-type dude in New York when she was in her 20s and he left her with his toddler/young kid. Now that kid is going to go to Degrassi.   
Spike: Riker’s grandma, emma’s mom  
Snake: Riker’s grandpa  
Joey & Catilin: they’re married now. Caitlin works full time as a journalist working with Lucy on women’s rights docs  
Connor: Acts as an honorary uncle to Riker.  
Jack Simpson-Nelson: Spike & Snake's son - Emma's half-brother. (Spike gave birth to him in Season 2 of TNG.) He's about 18 now. Just graduated from one of the other Degrassi schools, maybe one in Vancouver or something. He's also Riker's uncle though he's off at college for the first couple seasons. He'll come back on breaks for Christmas and such to hang out with the Simpson-Nelson fam.  
Lucy: Conner’s bio mom. She and Caitlin team up to make feminist youtube content.  
Wheels: Died in 2007, 13 years before this show starts, but he’s Connor’s bio dad.  
Fiona & Declan: since their son Butch is older than Emma & Spinner’s kid, he was supposedly conceived in 2008, which means that fiona & Declan were hiding their incest kid during most of their appearance on Degrassi TNG. Their kid has been living in Wisconsin for longer than they have because they kept him a secret.

[DEGRASSI JR HIGH STUDENTS]

6th grade:   
Riker Simpson-Nelson-Mason - Emma & Spinner’s kid. He's a big zoomer nerd who plays Minecraft all the time. He wants to learn2code. He's close with his Uncle Connor. He's not super close with Uncle Jack but their relationship will grow over the series.

DJ: Riker's platonic best friend. They identify as female in the first season but will eventually come out as nonbinary.

7th grade:  
Ashlynn: the cute gamer girl that Riker's gonna fall in love with. They'll do one of those on/off again things.

Jessie: Jane's step-daughter from her previous relationship. She's now been fully adopted by Jane & Holly J, and soon Spinner will become their step-dad in the VERY SPECIAL EPISODE about polyamory. And that means that Riker will become her step bro.

8th grade:  
Butch Coyne - the BIG BULLY. He is a MAJOR ASSHOLE. But it's because he's insecure about his past and his birth parents. He doesn't yet know that Fiona & Declan are his birth parents but he's gonna find out partway thru season 1 in a VERY SPECIAL EPISODE.

More characters to be added later!

Premise: It’s 2020ish. Emma and Spinner conceived a child after their accidental drunk wedding in a Niagara Falls casino back in 2010. They didn’t use protection back in 2010 because Spinner assumed he wasn’t super fertile due to losing his left testicle to cancer in Season 7 of TNG. Unfortunately, Emma comes from a VERY UNBELIEVABLY FERTILE line of women -- after all, Spike got pregnant in 1987 at 14 years old after having sex ONLY ONCE and then got pregnant with Emma’s brother Jack in 2002 WHILE ON BIRTH CONTROL, so Emma really should’ve been more careful. As a result, Emma and Spinner obviously divorced back in 2010 after the Degrassi Takes Manhattan season finale, but then Emma found out she was pregnant. Now she and Spinner must co-parent their child as they get ready to enter DEGRASSI JUNIOR HIGH!   
Just like in Star Trek Voyager the ship gets lost far away from the alpha quadrant, in Degarssi Voyager:  
Spinner and Emma take their child to the US for a nerdy summer camp the summer before middle school starts. Unfortunately, they get TRAPPED THERE because the US closes the border for the coronavirus. So now they can’t get back to Canada! Emma and Spinner must co-parent their child in a different country   
Emma has become a teacher and administrator and has made her mission to spread education around the world. She’s turned Degrassi and its gifted program from a canadian-only school to a series of public schools in multiple locations. There are 3 in Canada, 3 in the US, and they want to expand to other places.  
Emma and Spinner’s kid will go to school at the Degrassi in Wisconsin.


	2. Season 1 Episode Guide!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A synopsis of the first 10 episodes of season 1. Full episodes will start this Friday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've added a few more characters since I posted yesterday's chapter.  
> Full episodes should be added to the series starting this Friday!

EPISODE SUMMARY:  
[all episodes are titled after 80s & 90s movies]

Season 1

Episode 1: Lost in America  
Emma and Spinner are in Chicago with their son, Riker, who is completing a showcase at his summer coding camp. Emma and Spinner, who are divorced, are just co-parenting for their son's sake and plan to take him back to Canada immediately following the camp. Unfortunately, the US/Canada border gets closed for COVID, and they can't get back. Emma decides to take Riker to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where Emma's in the process of opening up a new Degrassi School. (This episode will explain the new Degrassi school system that Emma & Snake founded.) At his summer camp, Riker met a cute #GamerGirl named Ashlynn who he learns is going to attend the new Degrassi Wisconsin school too.

Episode 2: Back to the Future  
Emma sets up a virtual high school reunion for all Degrassi graduates to happen the weekend before school starts. The whole thing takes place over a Zoom knockoff called ZipZap, which is a video conferencing app in this universe. Emma is in the US working on setting up the opening of the new Degrassi school in Wisconsin, which will open virtually for this year due to social distancing & COVID, while teachers & administrators work on preparing the school for an official opening later. A few who are already in the US meet up in person (6 feet apart, of course) and see the rest online. Spinner reconnects with Jane & Holly J, who are married to one another now.

Episode 3: Stand By Me  
Riker and his best friend, DJ, start getting bullied by Sage and Butch. During this episode, DJ confides to Riker that they are questioning their gender identity. Butch and Sage overhear this and use it as fodder to be asshole middle school bullies. Sage beats up DJ, and Riker talks to his parents, Emma and Spinner, about the right ways to take a stand. Can violence be the answer? Emma and Spinner are forced to remember the fights they got into in their youths.

Episode 4: The First Wives Club  
The Very Special Polyamory Episode - Spinner gets into a relationship with both Jane and Holly J  
As Spinner, Jane, and Holly J's 3-way relationship grows, they realize that they'll have to talk to their kids at some point about blending the family. It's time to introduce Jessie and Riker to what polyamory means for their parents.

Episode 5: Pretty in Pink  
Degrassi Wisconsin attempts to host a virtual, socially distanced school dance. Riker wants to ask Ashlynn to the dance but, after overhearing her having a conversation about monogamy (regarding her sibling/relative/whoever cheating on someone), he's worried that she'll judge his dad Spinner's new polyamorous relationship with Jane and Holly J, his 2 stepmoms-to-be.

Episode 6: Weird Science  
The Very Special Coronavirus Episode  
Butch and Sage decide to sneak out of the house and violate social distancing orders to go to a party on the lake where they hear cute high school girls will be. At the end of the episode, it's found that a few of the high schoolers there are conspiracy theorists who don't believe COVID is real. The party gets broken up by police. A few days later, Butch and Sage both find themselves feeling sick.

Episode 7: Little Shop of Horrors  
The Very Special Incest Episode  
When Butch goes to the doctor to get tested for coronavirus, he learns that his parents aren't his biological parents after all -- his mom is the cousin of his parents, Fiona and Declan, who are twins. Fiona and Declan had an accidental baby when they were 16ish and their rich family kept it quiet by sending Butch out to Wisconsin, where he's lived all his life. Butch struggles with whether he should reconnect with his parents and with the big secret that he's the product of incest. Butch goes to therapy for this, obviously.

Episode 8: Say Anything  
Butch recovers from coronavirus and sees the numbers in Milwaukee starting to decrease. Things are starting to look safer. Unfortunately, the news comes out that Sage has died of the virus. The school gathers together to mourn, while DJ and Riker feel conflicted about mourning Sage who was a horrible bully to a lot of them.

Episode 9: Field of Dreams  
Degrassi Wisconsin officially opens its doors for the first time with a few months left in the school year. Students must obey social distancing measures which are heightened to the max.

Episode 10: Airplane  
SEASON FINALE - When the border to Canada opens back up, Emma, Spinner, Riker, and others must decide if they want to move back to Canada next year.


	3. Episode 1: Lost in America - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode 1: Lost in America  
> Emma and Spinner are in Chicago with their son, Riker, who is completing a showcase at his summer coding camp. Emma and Spinner, who are divorced, are just co-parenting for their son's sake and plan to take him back to Canada immediately following the camp. Unfortunately, the US/Canada border gets closed for COVID, and they can't get back. Emma decides to take Riker to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where Emma's in the process of opening up a new Degrassi School. (This episode will explain the new Degrassi school system that Emma & Snake founded.) At his summer camp, Riker met a cute #GamerGirl named Ashlynn who he learns is going to attend the new Degrassi Wisconsin school too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for EPISODE 1! Leave a comment if you have theme song ideas!

Riker Nelson-Simpson-Mason, age 11, walked out of his tiny dorm room into the hallway, where his parents stood fighting. He sighed, slumping against the cinderblock hallway wall with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder.

"Well, maybe if you'd just been willing to take the bus with me, you wouldn't have got held up at the car rental," Riker's mom, Emma, snapped.

His dad, Spinner, rolled his eyes. "Well, maybe if you weren't so anal about taking the public transit--"

"ANAL?!" Emma cut him off. "Maybe if ANAL is all we did back in Niagara Falls, then we wouldn't be IN THIS MESS."

"Hey now," Spinner said, lowering his voice. "That's the kind of thing that you would've gotten super mad at Spike for saying around YOU--"

"Well, Spike isn't here, is she?"

"No, but our SON is," Spinner said under his breath.

Emma whipped her head around to see Riker standing outside the dorm. "Don't worry, Mom, I know what anal means," he said.

"Are you ready to go?" Emma asked him. Riker nodded. "Let's head to the airport then."

A few moments later, the Nelson-Simpson-Mason "family" was sitting in Spinner's gross rental car, which smelled like 10 metric tons of dank weed, heading to the O'Hare airport in Chicago. Spinner had the GPS on his phone set up on the front dashboard. The three of them mostly rode in silence, except for Spinner's GPS telling them to continue for the next few miles.

Suddenly, Emma's phone pinged loudly. She whipped her Android phone out of the cupholder and started feverishly typing. After sending a text, she set it back in the cupholder. Then a moment later, it pinged again. All the while, Riker sat in the back seat, staring out the window, trying his best to ignore his parents, who he knew could erupt in another fight at any second.

Emma's phone pinged a third time. Riker heard Spinner audibly exhaling from the driver's seat. "Emma, can you PLEASE turn the volume down if you're going to keep getting messages from your new boyfriend or whoever?"

Emma rolled her eyes and then stared back down at her phone. "It's SNAKE, Spinner. My step-dad. The one I'm in constant contact with because we're opening up 3 new Degrassi schools starting in 3 weeks. So calm down."

Riker curled up in the back seat and slid his own phone out of his front pocket. He opened up a text from DJ, his best friend and roommate from game dev camp. "Miss u already," the text said.

Riker texted back: "same. parents won't stop fighting. idk why they even both came."

Emma and Spinner's son, Riker, had just completed his first summer at a prestigious game developer camp for teens in Chicago. Though Riker lived in Toronto, Canada, his parents decided to splurge for the summer on a special summer sleepaway camp program for him. Emma figured, if her son was going to spend all his life playing Minecraft, Fortnite, Roblox, and other games, and programming mods & free DLC, and never shutting up about his dream of growing up to develop games like this himself, he might as well go to a summer program for this. Plus, Emma was moving up in the world of school administrators, and while her salary wasn't amazing, it was enough to get the kid a nice summer away. He'd been through a lot, with her and Spinner getting divorced before he was even born.

When Riker had texted his parents -- on the Nelson-Simpson-Mason family group chat -- that his camp would be having a showcase at the end of August to show off the games they programmed, Spinner and Emma decided to swallow their pride and both go to the US together to pick him up. That way, they could be there to be supportive of their son. Riker didn't care if they were both being supportive; the 2 of them arguing all the time was so annoying it outweighed any support they gave him.

While at camp, Riker had made a friend named DJ, a talented, androgynous looking programmer with shaggy brown hair and cool Adidas sneakers. Riker didn't know if DJ was a girl or a boy, so he asked them. DJ said they didn't know either. So instead of talking about anything like that, they just worked on programming their game together, a simple little flash game about a puppy that could fetch a variety of user-generated objects. Now that Riker was on his way to the airport with BOTH his parents, and then heading back to Canada -- and back to the grind of shifting whose house he stayed at every week -- he was grateful to have a loyal friend to text, and to vent to. 

At the end of camp, Riker was sad to say goodbye to DJ, but he knew they'd still have a connection -- they were both heading to Degrassi Junior High in the fall. However, DJ was going to one of the 3 Degrassi schools in the US, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while Riker was going to the original Degrassi in Toronto. 

Degrassi had originally just been a school district in Toronto, Canada, but Riker's grandpa, Archie "Snake" Simpson, along with his mom, Emma, had spent the past 10 years working on expanding the network of Degrassi schools across the Western Hemisphere. They started by opening a Degrassi school in Montreal, then in Quebec. Then, they moved out to the US, where they opened a Degrassi school in Portland, OR and Charlotte, North Carolina, and now they were just preparing to open the school in Milwaukee.


	4. Episode 1: Lost in America - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> each episode will come in pieces every friday! thanks for your patience y'all!

When the Simpson-Nelson-Mason family arrived at the O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, they went through all the usual steps to prepare for international travel. (Well, travel to CANADA, so international ENOUGH.) They checked their bags. They went through security. They got their passports ready. Once they were through security, Spinner insisted that they all run through the giant tunnel where they filmed Home Alone.

"Come on, guys!" he yelled, running ahead of his ex-wife and son.

"Spinner, what are you doing?" Emma rolled her eyes.

"It's the tunnel they run through in Home Alone! When the family's late for their flight and Kevin's stuck at home. They all run through this tunnel to get to their flight on time! THIS IS THE TUNNEL WHERE IT WAS FILLED?"

"Spinner, please stop running in the airport," Emma said, adjusting her backpack.

"What's Home Alone?" asked Riker. 

"Oh, dude!" Spinner yelled. "We need to watch Home Alone this Christmas. You and me, buddy, long as your mom grants me custody for Christmas Eve this year!"

Emma rolled her eyes YET AGAIN, because that's the only way she knows how to show emotion. "Spinner, can we not do this now? And can you not call our son DUDE?"

Spinner made finger guns at Emma and smiled. "Ems, you lost the right to tell me what to do with our son when you divorced my ass back in 2011!"

Riker sighed, assuming he would never know what Home Alone was. Still walking down the airport aisle toward the gate, he pulled his phone out of his front pocket to text DJ from camp. "What's Home Alone? Is it a Christmas movie?" he asked.

DJ replied. "Home Alone is Post Malone's slutty mom. Her name is Ho Malone."

Riker laughed a little. "You're the best, Deej," he texted. DJ's joke was lame, as usual, but at least DJ was distracting him from his parents' awkward fighting.

Finally, they made it to their gate. They all sat in the waiting area for the next flight to Toronto. Emma sipped at a soy latte she got from the airport Starbucks, regularly checking her phone for updates from Snake about the upcoming start to the school year.

Emma nearly spit out her soy latte when her phone buzzed with Snake's latest text. Her eyes widened as she read it. "Oh my god," she whispered to herself. 

"Something wrong yet again, DEAR?" Spinner asked sarcastically.

"Yes, actually," she said. "I just got this text from Snake."

"What's wrong, Mom?" Riker asked. Emma just leaned over and patted her son's head, but kept her nose buried in her phone.

"We'll know in a few minutes, hon," she said. "I need to go call Snake -- I mean, your Grandpa." Then, Emma took her phone and her latte and walked away from the gate, toward the airport's Starbucks, which usually had good cell phone service. 

"Hey, Snake, what's up? I saw your text that said 'IT'S URGENT, CALL NOW.'"

Snake's voice -- ever calm, but laced with a bit of panic underneath -- came through the phone. "The airport hasn't told you yet, Emma?"

"Told me what?"

"About... your flight? Your flight is okay?"

"We got here a bit early, but we're supposed to board the plane in about two hours. What's wrong with my flight?"

Emma heard Snake sigh loudly over the phone. Then, an announcement came over the speakers. "Attention, all international flights. Attention! All flights outside the US, including Canada and Mexico, I repeat INCLUDING all North American territories, have been suspended." Emma's eyes widened. "Snake... hold on a sec," she said, lowering her phone from her face and looking at the screens positioned around the airport announcing arrivals, departures, and delays. Suddenly, all the flights going to Canada flashed, then displayed a giant "DELAYED" across the screen. "Delayed until... when?" Emma whispered under her breath.

"Attention, all international fliers!" the voice came over the speakers once again. "All flights outside the US have been delayed. An order has just been issued to close the US-Canada border. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, no flights will be leaving the US today."

"Snake, I'll have to call you back."


	5. Episode 1: Lost In America - Part 3

Riker sat in the airport terminal waiting area with his feet resting on his luggage when his mom, Emma, came storming back toward him. Riker quickly pulled his earbud, which was attached to his Android cell phone (playing music, but not by Drake, because obviously Drake doesn't exist in the Degrassi Universe, unless you mean Drake Bell's music that he played while on Drake & Josh, in which case, sure, fine) out of his ear and looked up at Emma. "What's going on, Mom?"

Emma seemed to look straight past him and toward her ex-husband, Spinner, who was sitting in the chair next to Riker, also with his feet up on his luggage, his focus 100% on the phone in front of him where he was playing 2048. Spinner seemed to lose every time he even got close to 1024, and his face showed an expression of sadness every single time.

"Spinner, what are we going to do?" Emma asked.

Spinner looked up from his phone at Emma, who was standing in front of him, looking down, still paying no attention to Riker. "About what?" Spinner asked.

"Hello? About the fact that all flights to Canada are suspended?"

Spinner shrugged. "It's just a flight delay. Chill."

Over the next four hours, Spinner and Emma sat next to each other, fighting on and off, while Riker sat in between them listening to music on his phone and occasionally texting DJ. 

DJ: ur parents still fighting?  
Riker: yeah, unfortunately. it's all they do. idk why they even came here 2gether.  
DJ: cuz they care about u!!  
Riker: yeah, we'll i've been stuck here @ the airport w/ them 4 like half the day. flights back 2 canada are delayed  
DJ: that sux!  
Riker: yeah. i hope this stops soon cuz i can't take the 2 of them 2gether that much longer  
DJ: have u told them 2 just stfu already?!  
Riker: nah. mom & dad are both strong people but in different ways. if i told them 2 stfu... idk   
DJ: i getcha

Riker looked away from his phone for a moment to glance at his parents, Emma and Spinner, who were still going at it. "Flights to Canada are delayed INDEFINITELY, Spinner!" Emma said. "They're planning to close the border!"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know! But we've got to get our son home! And we've got to get home!"

Spinner shrugged. "I wasn't that attached to my job with the Toronto Police. I could find something here. The Chicago Police got to take down Al Capone and shit. I could get used to US life."

Emma rolled her eyes yet again. "This is why I divorced you," she mumbled under her breath.

"Nah, you did that because we got married drunk in a casino in Niagara Falls." Spinner tapped Riker on the shoulder. Riker removed his earbud and looked up at his dad. "Son, you ever want to know why you shouldn't binge drink?"

Riker slid his phone in his pocket and looked up at Spinner. "What, Dad?"

"You're heading into junior high. In school, they'll tell you not to drink because of health problems, alcohol poisoning, all of that. But if you need a real life example of why you should just hold off on the alcohol, look at me and your mom. The only reason the two of us ever got married is that we got too drunk at a casino. let our failures be a lesson to you, son."

Riker stared at his dad blankly. "So you're saying that you regret getting drunk in Niagara Falls?"

"Exactly," said Spinner.

Riker continued staring. "So. You're saying that you regret conceiving me, giving birth to me, and my entire existence?"

Now it was Spinner's turn to stare blankly. "You win, son. Up here," Spinner raised his hand for a high five. Riker gave a high five halfheartedly, then turned his attention back to his phone, where he had a few missed texts from DJ.

DJ: have u heard from ashlynn?!  
Riker: about what?  
DJ: i just meant like in general?  
Riker: nah i said goodbye 2 her this morning  
DJ: but did u get her #?  
Riker: nah but i followed her on IG. i can DM her  
DJ: laaaaame

Ashlynn was the girl Riker had met at camp. She'd worked with him and DJ in their group for their final project. Riker heard that both Ashlynn and DJ were going to the new Degrassi school in Milwaukee; he was the only one in their group to be heading back to Canada, and he remembered feeling a little sad. DJ was one of the best friends he'd ever made in distant memory, and Ashlynn... well... Ashlynn...

Ashlynn, with her long curly red hair. Ashlynn with her wire framed glasses that she only wore when she was deep in concentration writing some new code. Ashlynn, who had a million creative ideas, who was constantly bursting with the energy that Riker was too afraid to show the world. Ashlynn...

Yeah, DJ had picked up on the fact that Riker liked Ashlynn as a little more than a friend. But who cared? He was heading back to Canada. And maybe they'd meet at some kind of worldwide Degrassi networking function when they were trying to find connections for college like 5 years down the line, but...

...Ashlynn...

Riker's thoughts were halted when Emma's hand wrapped around his forearm and lifted him out of his seat. "Where are we going, Mom?" he asked.

"To a hotel or something," Emma replied.

Riker looked around the airport, where tons of people were evacuating. He must've zoned out, he realized, as he saw TVs everywhere now displaying the message "All flights to Canada suspended until further notice," and "US-Canada Border closed."

About an hour later, Riker was crammed into a small hotel room with his parents. The room had 2 double beds; Riker sat on an armchair, while Emma and Spinner sat in separate beds. Riker wondered which bed he'd sleep in, since his parents DEFINITELY wouldn't be sharing a bed tonight.


	6. Episode 1: Lost in America - Part 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riker, Emma, and Spinner have to make the decision to enroll in Degrassi in the US.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gonna try to post 2 chapters today if possible. wish me luck!

When the Simpson-Nelson-Mason family arrived at the hotel in Desplaines, Illinois, right out of Chicago, they settled into the room with 2 double beds. Riker wasn't sure where he'd sleep tonight, considering he knew his parents would definitely not sleep in the same bed.

While Riker settled down in the armchair, his cell phone still in his hands, texting DJ, he watched his parents pace around the room.

"Okay," Emma said, pacing back and forth. "So Riker is supposed to start at Degrassi Junior High on Monday. But we can't get back to Canada. Spinner, what do we do?"

Spinner flopped back onto one of the beds and crossed his arms behind his head. "I dunno. Aren't you always talking about the new Degrassi schools you're opening? Why does it matter if we can get back to Canada?"

"Spinner! Why aren't you taking this seriously?"

Spinner shrugged. "Because it's really not that big of a deal. You said Snake was opening up a new Degrassi school in what, Wyoming?"

"Wisconsin, Spinner! Wyoming is nowhere near here!"

Spinner shrugged once again and slunk down farther on the bed. "I don't know anything about the US. I'm Canadian. Why should I care? The US is just Canada's crotch."

Riker rolled his eyes again and continued to text DJ on his cell phone, while his parents deliberated in the background about what they'd do while the border was closed "indefinitely." It's not like he had a choice anyway, right? Riker sighed. Sometimes, it was just easier to let his parents fight it out among themselves rather than spend time trying to tell them what he wants. Plus, in this case, Riker didn't even really know what he wanted. He had a few friends from elementary school, sure. He had some guy friends that he played on his 5th grade basketball team with. That was fine and all, but it wasn't a life or death kind of decision. Actually, come to think of it, if he had to stay in the US, he might get to spend more time with DJ. And... Ashlynn...

"Okay so I guess it's settled then!" Emma shouted.

Riker snapped out of his trance, glancing up from his phone. He hadn't even realized that he'd been tuning out his parents, but here he was. He wanted to ask, "What's settled?" but it didn't really matter -- he was sure his mom Emma would explain it -- and his dad Spinner would make lame jokes about it -- within the next few minutes.

"Riker, we'll transfer your enrollment to the Wisconsin Degrassi for the time being."

Riker blinked up at his mom. All he said was, "Okay." But in his head, he thought about a lot of things. Like how this might actually be a good thing -- especially considering DJ and Ashlynn would be going to the Wisconsin Degrassi, so he might actually start middle school with some friends, rather than some random basketball acquaintances. But that was too much to articulate, especially to his mom, who was busy working with his grandpa, Snake, to get all of the logistics worked out. So the one word -- "Okay" -- it was.

"Thank you so much for being flexible with me," Emma said, leaning down to hug her son in the hotel room armchair. 

Then, she immediately whipped around and made eye contact with Spinner. "Okay, there is so much more to accomplish before Riker starts school on Monday. Since the border is closed, this virus has to be pretty serious. I bet Snake knows what all the contingency plans are in place. I'll need to talk to Snake tonight about all of that. And then we'll need to talk to the principal at the Wisconsin Degrassi -- what is his name again? -- I'll get Snake to tell me..."

"Emma, chill," said Spinner, grabbing the remote from the side table next to his bed. "We've got three days until Riker starts school, and we've got Snake at the head of all this. Everything will be fine."

Riker looked back and forth between his parents, then back down at his phone. For the first time, he thought that yes, maybe everything WOULD be okay. But whether or not it would -- he needed to prepare for this monday -- his start at Degrassi Junior High.


	7. Episode 2: Back to the Future, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode 2 of season 1 begins! Riker is starting at Degrassi: Wisconsin! It's time for a new school year to begin... online??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The year timelines are messed up a bit. But that's what Degrassi does! They always mess up the years due to seasons taking random amounts of filming time to complete. So just ignore that Emma probably had Riker at 20, meaning that it would actually be like her 13th high school reunion, not her 10th. Degrassi is already a hot mess canonically, so I'm just keeping up the tradition for the sake of convenience and setting things in 2020.

"So the Wisconsin building won't even be opened yet?" Emma asked, still pacing around her hotel room.

Emma and her son, Riker, along with her ex-husband, Spinner (who was also Riker's father) had been sharing a hotel room in Desplaines, Illinois, near the O'Hare Airport, for the past 2 days. After visiting Riker in Chicago for a coding summer camp, the US-Canada border had been closed due to quarantine for the COVID-19 virus.

Due to the severity of the virus, schools might not even be able to open -- as Emma was currently learning from Snake.

Emma sat down at the small hotel room desk, opening up her laptop. She was more than ready to get out of this hotel room and enroll Riker in the new Degrassi middle school in Wisconsin; but until she could get back to Canada, that also meant that she and Spinner would have to find a place to live in Milwaukee, unless they wanted to drive Riker a full hour to school every day. Although, based on her newest conversation with her step-dad, Snake, it seemed like attending school in-person wouldn't even be necessary.

Snake came through on the other line. He was still back in Toronto, Canada, working at the original Degrassi school, where he was superintendent of the entire Degrassi international district. However, due to the COVID-19 virus -- and the fact that, until tomorrow, it was still technically summer vacation -- Snake had been working from home at the house that he shared with his wife, Spike, and their 18-year-old son, Jack, who was about to head off to his freshman year at Toronto University after graduating from Degrassi High last year.

"It's not safe to open any buildings yet, Emma," Snake said. "We need to socially distance -- this virus is pretty scary. A lot of other schools I'm talking to are considering starting the school year online, and then resuming in person when the spread of the virus has slowed enough that it's safe."

"So what should we do?" Emma asked, opening up a few tabs on her computer and logging into her Degrassi Admin account.

"Well, you already registered Riker with the Degrassi Milwaukee school, right? I think you should start him virtually in that school. We can move him to the Toronto school if the border opens back up. But it's possible that school might be safe to attend in person before it's safe to travel between countries."

Emma nodded. "Okay, that sounds fine."

"There's something else I need from you, Emma," Snake said.

"Something else?" What else could Snake possibly want? Emma was working tirelessly to help Snake open new Degrassi schools everywhere. She had originally been planning to return to the Degrassi school in Toronto as an environmental sciences teacher, until the border was closed; but now that school would be conducted virtually, over a video conferencing software called ZipZap, Emma could still teach her classes from the US. So that was a relief at least. But she'd already enrolled her son in the Wisconsin school. And maybe he'd have to attend there. This whole thing was such a mess. What more could Snake possibly want from her?

"Yeah," Snake sighed. "I know with everything that's been going on, you probably haven't realized. But for a lot of Degrassi alumni -- including you, actually -- it's the 10th anniversary of your graduation. We want to have a 10-year high school reunion. Originally I was going to plan it, but now with all the online adaptation, I have so much on my plate --"

"Say no more, Snake," Emma said. "I've got this." 

"Thank you so much," Snake answered. Emma could hear the audible sigh in his voice, like he was letting go of years of pent up tension. "This is helping me so, so much. The problem I'm running into is... well, if it's not safe to open schools or travel between countries, then it's probably not safe to host a reunion, either. We want to figure out how to host a virtual reunion over ZipZap. Can you help me with that?"

Emma smiled. "Snake, you're the one who taught me all about media immersion. I think I can handle it -- I learned from the best!"


	8. Episode 2: Back to the Future, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riker starts his first day of virtual school. Emma and Spinner try to get along until they can find separate places to live while Emma plans the virtual Degrassi reunion.

Riker could NOT FOCUS on virtual school. It was bad enough that his first day at Degrassi had to be over the computer in the middle of a deadly pandemic, but the very least his parents could do was try to get along -- or at least try fighting QUIETLY, especially in the morning. That morning, while he sat at the desk in the hotel room wearing his headphones hooked into his Chromebook, trying to get orientated in his virtual homeroom (which thankfully had his best friend, DJ, from coding camp), all he could hear in the background was his mom yelling at his dad for taking too long in the shower, then his dad yelling back at his mom about taking too long to blow-dry her bangs, and then a bunch of targeted insults, like "Well some of us have jobs to do!" "Well no need to rub it in my face that my job might be taken away from me!" 

Eventually, Riker's mom Emma stormed out of the room and down to the hotel lobby, leaving Riker stuck with his dad, Spinner.

They were still stuck in the hotel room in Desplaines, about an hour drive from Milwaukee, while Spinner tried to figure out more permanent living arrangements. Spinner knew he and his ex-wife couldn't cohabitate for any longer than necessary, but he also didn't want to put down a deposit on an apartment lease, not knowing how long they'd have to wait until they could get back to Canada, where he already had his own apartment in Toronto. He also didn't know when he'd be able to get back to his job with the Toronto Police, or if they'd even still have his position for him when he came back. He flopped down on his back on the hotel bed, trying not to let Riker see the crease in his forehead indicating all the stress he was feeling.

Meanwhile, Emma was downstairs in the hotel lobby's business center, managing a million tasks at once on one of their computers. Spinner was mildly jealous that Emma could work remotely right now, but he was also glad he didn't have so much work to do during a high period of stress. He stared at his son from the bed, watching him sit at the hotel desk, headphones on, occasionally talking to his new classmates through the video call on the screen. The setup briefly brought him back to his own days at Degrassi High, back when he was in Mr. Simpson's Media Immersion class. It was weird to think of Mr. Simpson as Snake -- or as his former father-in-law. Back when Spinner was a teenage trouble maker, he'd never guessed that his teacher -- who would later be the principal, and later be the superintendent -- would also become his father in law, and then his EX father in law. Life was weird like that sometimes, wasn't it?

Spinner was staring at the cracks in the ceiling, pondering how weird life could be, when suddenly his ex-wife burst through the door of their hotel room to prove him right. At first, Spinner recoiled, scared that they were about to break into another fight in front of their son, when instead ... he saw her smiling.

"Some good news?" he asked.

She nodded and motioned for him to come toward her. He glanced over at Riker, who was still plugged in to his virtual class, seemingly in some kind of class discussion. He nodded at Emma, not wanting to disturb his son again with a potentially volatile discussion. He met her out in the hotel's hallway.

"What is it?" Deep down, Spinner held onto hope that she'd heard something about a way for them to get back to Canada. Though he'd seen no news about progress toward the border opening during the many hours he spent scrolling through his phone earlier today, so that probably wasn't it.

"I've been organizing our virtual reunion, and do you know who I realized is living right nearby in Milwaukee?"

"Who?"

"Jane and Holly J!" 

Spinner stood there for a moment, stunned. His ex-girlfriend, Jane, almost his fiance, who had cheated on him... with the boyfriend of Holly J, his co-worker. It all seemed so long ago at this point -- and it WAS. It was over a decade ago -- Emma was even planning the 10-year reunion for Jane's class at Degrassi. Spinner hadn't talked to Jane in those past 10 years -- and not a day had gone by that he didn't regret it.

When Spinner learned Jane was cheating on him 10 years ago, back when he was barely 21 years old, he'd instantly broken up with her, despite the fact that he'd been planning to propose. Jane pleaded with him to reconsider; she had ended the affair months ago, and it was a two-week long mistake. But Spinner, young, stubborn, and slighted, dumped her and cut contact. He then went on a drunk trip to a casino in Niagara Falls with Emma, where they had a blackout Vegas-style wedding that neither of them remembered. That was also the night that they conceived Riker. They were divorced less than a year later, shortly after Riker was born. 

Spinner remembered one day when Riker was two years old and he took him to the park, one of his outings as a single dad with 50/50 custody. He sat on a bench, watching his son play in the sandbox with a few other kids, and saw a bunch of kids with their parents passing them by, kids holding both their mom and their dad's hands. One young mom wore thick eyeliner; she had eyebrow piercings and dressed in a slightly toned-down punk. So much of her reminded him of Jane, and he found himself suddenly wondered what life would've been like if Jane was his co-parent; or better yet, his wife. What if he had forgiven her for her mistake? What if SHE was Riker's mom? What if they had a family, like the little boy holding his ex-punk mom and beefy-looking dad's hands at the same time just a few yards away from him? Since then, not a day had gone by that he didn't think of Jane and at least wonder "what if?"

It wasn't a constant wondering. It was usually once or twice a day that she briefly crossed his mind, like a flash of sunlight that briefly blinded him and left a moment later. But other days she kept him up at night, as much as he hated to admit it. They'd lost contact after he'd stormed away from her at that graduation party back in 2010. And now she was here. In Milwaukee. With... Holly J?

"That's... amazing," Spinner said.

Emma rested a hand on his shoulder. "Spinner, I know that things have been rough between us. But I want you to be happy. So... do you want to come to the reunion?"

"It's not my 10-year reunion, though," Spinner said. "I graduated 11 years ago."

"It's fine. I'm organizing it, and you can come as my date. Unofficially of course -- I want you and Jane to get to reconnect."

Spinner smiled; 2020 was weird so far for sure, but at least his ex-wife could be all right sometimes.


End file.
